Machine for making spirally-jointed tubes



8 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

T. S. CRANE.

MACHINE FOR MAKINGfiPIRALLY JOINTED TUBES. No; 393,748.

Patented Dec. 4,1888.

N. PETERS. Plumb-Lithographer. Wllhlnglon. D. C.

(No Model.) 8 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T.-S.ORANE.'

MACHINE FOR MAKING SPIRALLY JOINTED' TUBES.

No. 393.743. j Patented Dec. 4;, 1888.

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i (No Model. f I s Sheets-Sheet 3.

T. S. CRANE.

MACHINE FOR MAKING SPIRALLY JOINTED TUBES.

No. 393,743.- Patented Dec. 4, 1888.

(No Mbdel.) 8 Sheets-Sheet 4.

T. s. CRANE. MACHINE FOR MAKING SPIRALLY JOINTED TUBES. No. 893,743. Patented Dec. 4, 1888.

jiz ea%: J4 067K514??- (No Model.) 8 s Sheets-{Sheet 5.

' T.-S. CRANE.

MACHINE FOR MAKING SPIRALLY JOINTED TUBES.

Patented Dec. 4, 1888. 7

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a w X (No Mo dgl.) 8 Sheets-Sheet a.

T. S. CRANE.

MACHINE FOR. MAKING, SPIRALLY JOINTED TUBES. No. 393,743. I w Patented Dec. 4, 1888..

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{No Model.) s Shet sSheet 7.

T. S. CRANE.

MACHINE FOR MAKING SPIRALLY JOINTED TUBES.

N0.*393,743. Patented Dec; 4, 1 888.

N PETERS. HMO-litho'npha, Washklgton 0:0.

(No Model.) 8 Sheets-Sheet s.

T. S. CRANE.

MAGHINB FOR MAKING SPIRALLY JOINTED TUBES.

No. 393,743. Patented Dec. 4, 1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Trice.

TTTOMAS'S. CRANE, OF EAST ORANGE, NETV JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR MAKING 'SPIRALLY-JOINTED TUBES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,743, dated December 4, 1888.

Application filed March 1'7, 1888. Serial No. 267,454. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS S. CRANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Orange, Essex county, New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spiral-Seam T ube-WVeldin g Machines, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accompanying drawings forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to that class of machines in which a sheet-metal skelp is fed obliquely to a pipe, which is formed by bending and winding the end of the skelp in a spiral manner, so as to project the pipe continuously from one edge of the skelp, and the object of the invention is to furnish an improved means of forming and welding the sh eet-m eta]. skelp.

The improvements consist partly in the use of friction-rollers for feeding the skelp'; partly in. the combination with a vibrating hammer of a movable anvil rigidly sustained during the welding-blow; partly in the combination with such movable anvil of a former operating in conjunction therewith upon the outer side of the sheet metal, and partly in the details of construction for operating the former, the hammer, and the feeding devices.

The invention will be understood by reference to the annexed drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan of 'the entire machine. 2 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 Fig. i is an end elevation of the bed with the feedingappliances only mounted thereon. Fig. 5 is an end elevation, upon a larger scale, of the forming devices with a portion of the pipe-mold and furnace in section, and mold broken away between the lines m 00" to expose the feed-rolls c. Fig. (5 is an end elevation of the anvil and its actuating mechanism withpart of the base or bed and the rear side of the furnace, the parts being in section where hatched. Fig. 7 is a plan of the bed with the anvil, the pipe-mold, the post Q, and the auxiliary feed upon its upper side, and the rock-shaft 11. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of part of the bed with the anvil and a cam for raising the same. Fig. 9 is a similar View with an anvil of different construction; and Fig. 10 is an end view of the parts shown in Fig. 9.

A is the bed of. the machine; B, a mold containing rollers to form the pipe into cylindrical shape; 0, the movable anvil projected within the pipe at the end where the skelp is applied.

D is a former for bending the skelp against the surface of the anvil as the skelp is fed into the pipe-mold.

E is the furnace for heating the sheet metal, and F is the head of the hammer for pressing the heated portions upon the anvil at the point where the skelp makesa tan gent with the pipe.

The rollers I) are inserted through apertures in the sides of the pipe-mold, and are secured thereto by brackets I), the rollers being set parallel with the spiral seam of the pipe and arranged within the mold to support different portions of the sheet metal. before and after it is welded into cylindrical form.

The top of the anvil, like the pipe, is parallel with the bed A when raised, and is shown in Figs. 5, (3, and 7 affixed to the head of a vertical slide, C, fitted to move vertically in a socket, G upon the bed, and is elevated prior to each blow of the hammer by a wedge, G, sustained upon a seat, G, and moved transversely to the slide. The inclined surface of the wedge is fitted to a roller, 0, upon the'slide, and the head of the wedge is terminated by a bearing, 0, parallel with the seat G, and which bearing operates when drawn beneath the roller to hold the anvil rigidlyin an elevated position, in contact with the inner side of the pipe.

The top face of the anvil is extended across the entire width of the skelp and within the pipe beyond the seam to co-operate with a former upon the exterior of the pipe for bending the sheet-metal skelp to the desired curve as it is fed to the pipe. The pipe is thus firmly sustained beneath the blows of the hammer, and the anvil, by its co-operation with both the hammer and the former, performs a double function by operating, as it rises, to bend the sheet metal against the former, and after it is wholly lifted to sustain the metal under the blows of the hammer.

It is obvious that with a movable anvil the former may be either movable or stationary, the former construction being shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 5 and the latter construction in Figs. 8 and 9. In the earlier figures the former is shown attaehed to the trout end of a btmdinglever eonstrueted as a frame having a bar, l), to earry the former, and arms I), pivoted upon a stationary t'ulerum, d, and aet'uated at their rear ends by a toggle, whieh, when straightened, loeks the former in eontaet with the ext'erior of the pipe. ()ne of the arms of the toggle is eonstrueted as a serew, d, tapped into a nut, 1/, which is pivoted in the leverarms D and the other arm of the toggle is formed as a erank, with pin (7 at'tixed to a roek-shat't, ll. l) is mounted parallel with thesurt'aee 0r axis ot the pipe, so that the former is parallel with the pipe during all its movements. lly this eonstruetion the former is separated from the pipe an equal amount through its entire length when opened, and a greater spaee is left for ventilation and for inspeetion ot the pipe than with a former hinged at one end upon a pivot transverse to the pipe. The

roek-shat't is oseillated by a eonneetion to a pulleyshat't, l, which is provided with belt tlywheel I and with an eeeentrie, '1 for vibrating The bearings tor the shaft 1 I are mounted upon a plate, J, on the top 01' a the hammer.

stand, J'-, and bearings f are projeeted from the plate to sustain the t'ulerum f ot' the hammer-helve F, whieh is provided with an arm. 1 for eonneetion with the eeeentrie-rod F.

The rod is titted through a soeketf", upon the eeeentrie-strap, and is provided with indiarubber eollarsj and jam-nuts f upon eat-h side of the soeket, by means of \vhieh the rod ean be lengthened and shortened and the pressure of the blowdelivered upon the sheet metal may be varied at pleasure.

The shaft I is provided at itsrearemhover the roek-shat't ll, with a erank and pin, 1', I

\vhieh is eonueeted with an arm and erankpin, K, upon t he roek-shaft by a double-jointed eonneet ing-rod.

The shaft 1 rotates at right angles to the shaft 11', and the boxes r and g, whieh are titted, respeetively, to the two crank-pins, are

provided with ears 9*, to which an intermediate rod. is pivoted by forked ends and pins at its opposite ends. The rotation of the crank-pin t in one plane is thus eonverted into the oseillat ing motion in a d'illerent plane i of the erauk K upon the shaft ll. Besides operating the toggle for the former, the reekshaft is employed to actuate the feeding deviees and the wedge for raising the anvil.

In Fig. 0 the seat (1" is shown sunken below the surtiaee of the bed, so that; it may be eovered by guards a, forproteetion from the seale and water which drop from the pipe, and the wedge is eonneeted by a link, (1 with a crank arm and pin, (l lixed. upon the rock-shaft H. The feeding agents consist in primary rolls 7 and I, mounted upon the skelp-table l), and

of the skelp a t'ter it is eurved by the t'ormer.

The rollers are rotated by gearii'ig and a ratchet-wheel mounted upon a stand, M. The

The t'nlerum o of the former ratehet-wheel m is provided witha pawl-arm, o, and pawl o, and the roek-shatit [I is provided with a slotted t'eed-erank, N, earrying a erank-pin, n, whieh is linked tothe pawl-arm by a rod, )1. I The pin )1 is fixed in a sliding bloek, I12, and a hand-sl1at't,l is mounted adjaeent to the erank N and provided with a link, p, to move the bloek n to and lrom the renter ot' the shat't ll. The pin a is shown in I ig. t in its middle position, and adapted to prodnee an average t'eed by moving the pawl 0 upon the ratehet-wheel n1, while a greater i or less feed will be produeed by moving the fpin n toor from the shat't H in the slotted i erank N.

The lower teed-roll. I, is shown in Fig. 2 exposed by the removal of the skelp-table, and eonnw-ted by universal eouplings and shaft 3 m with a shaft, n1 mounted in stand M. The stand M. also earries the shat't. nrol' the ratehl et-wheel n1, whieh is eonlu;-eted with the shaft m by gear-wheels m 1/1., and by a gear, or", i with a shaft, or, to operate the auxiliary feed. The t'ulerum r! for t he t'ormeulever is formed upon the top of a post, Q, independent of the pipe-molds, so that the latter may be intert'llflllgttl beneath the former l) to make ditt'erent sizes of pipe in the same maehine, and t the post is utilized to sustain an adjustable l swiveling earrier, r, by which the auxiliary l rolls e are sustained in eontaet with the inner L end of the pipe 1;. The earrier is provided t l l l with a round shank, r, titted to a box, 1, whieh is secured by a bolt, s, upon a braeket, s, attaehed to the side ot the post Q, and the braeket itself is provided with a horizontal slot, .5", and the post with a vertieal slot,s"', so that it may be adjustable thereon in both a horizontal and vertieal direetion and then elamped thereto by a bolt, s.

The litting ot' the round shank in the box t 1* permits the angular at'ljustment ol' the rollers to suit, the inelined edge of the skelp at i the inner end of the pipe. The shafts of the h:e(l-rolls are journaled in the earrier r, and one of them is eonneeted by couplings a and :shat'ts n with the shat't in. The auxiliary teed-rollers are thus rotated simultaneously lwith the primary rolls I I, and the regulation ot the t'eed and thestoppingot thesame, which is aeeomplished by shitting the pin 1/ to the eenterot the erank X, is et'leetml by a hand lever, 1 al'tixed to the hand -shat't I, and loeked in plat-e, when adjusted, by a bolt and nut,p"', in a slot ted segment,p",whieh is shown only in the edge view in Fig. 3. Such slotted segments are already well known and are eommonly used for holding a movable lever in atixed position. lly thisapparatusthe teed can be stoppet'l, aeeelerated, or retarded while the maehine is in motion.

The skelp-table (shown in Figs. 1 and l) t eousists in a plate with a gage-strip or guide, L, lixed at one edge to direet the skelp into i the pipe-mold and [tl]']l2l((, the latter being I formed with an aperture or slit, E, through IIO which one edge of the skelp passes before reaching the anvil, and is subjected to the required heat therein.

The inner side of the furnace adjacent to the pipe concave, as shown in- Fig. 5, and

- is in practice tilled internally with refractory material, as lire-clay, (not shown in the drawin gs,) having tuyere t (for delivering air and gas) inserted in its rear side, and an internal passage (shown by the dotted lines- :for the flame to strike the edge of the blank or skelp in the slit- E and to operate upon. the edge of the pipe previously formed, which moves between the front of the furnace and a so-called lip, t, which is secured to the side of the furnace by a foot, 2?, and projected into the pi'eviously-forn'ied pipe at its rear end.

It will be seen in Figs; 1 and 5 that the front edge of the furnace is separated from the former D sufficiently for the. hannner F to strike the hot metal as it moves from the furnace upon the nearer side of the anvil.

The skelp-table is mounted upon a slotted circular plate, L", which is fitted by ways Z to move longitudinally upon a rest, Z, the rest being also movable transversely upon a bracket, Z, projected from the bed and adjusted thereon by a screw, Z. The circular plate is provided with a nut and the rest with a screw, Z to set the plate longitudinally. The skelptable may thus be set at the desired angle with the pipe, and when adjusted is clamped upon the slotted plate L and upon the bed by bolts F. The upper primary roller, Z, is mounted in practice in a frame, Z ,which is movable in a housing, Z affixed to the forward. end of the skelp-table at one edge only. The frame Z, with the roll Z, is movable to and from the lower roll, Z, by means of a screw, Z, and the rolls may thus be made to grip the skelp with any desired degree of force for feeding it to the mold,while one edge of the skelp projects from between the rolls opposite the housing Z and penetrates the slit E in the furnace to receive the heat as desired.

The teeth upon the gear-wheels m m, and m are indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, but are omitted from Fig. 4-, and the peripheries of the wheels merely indicated by dotted lines, as they lie behind the gear-stand M.

I n. Fig. 1 the bearings H for the rock-shaft are shown affixed,"respectively, to the post Q. The stand J 2 and the gear-stand M and the slots upon the shaft in Fig. '7 to which such bearings would be fitted, are similarly indicated by the letter II, the shaft being introduced in the latter figure to show the connection of the crank-arm and pin G2 with a link, and wedge G for raising the anvil.

The rolls Z) are omitted from the pipe-mold in Fig. 7, as they are not my invention, and

only the apertures Z2 are shown, through which .the rolls would be inserted.

The mold eonstrucled with anti-friction rolls set at any angle will be claimed in a separate patent application. The screw d, which constitutes a part of the toggle for operating the formerlevers D is adapted to turn for adjusting the pressure of the former D bya swivel-connection with the eye (Z by which it is attached to the pin A colland is formed upon the screw, to bear upon a hub projected from the eye, and a groove, (Z is formed in the screw within the hub, and a pin, r, is inserted through the hub to permit the turning of the screw upon the eye, while the collar d sustains all the pressure of the toggle.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing in front elevation, similar to Fig. 3, a modified construction for the anvil, with the rigid support upon the bed formed as a rotating or oscillating shaft, with a cam applied to the under side of the anvil; and Fig. 9 represents in similar elevation an anvil formed as alever, hinged at one end, withv a rotatin or oscillating cam in contact with its under side near the rear end of the pipe-mold.

In Fig. 8 the front of the anvil-socket U is shown, provided with bearings e for a rotat ing or oscillating shaft, 0 and a cam, 0 is shown upon said shaft in contact with the under side of the bar forming the anvil The cam is shown of eccentric form, with. its highest point in contact with the anvil-bar, and it is obvious that its rotation or oscilla tion in either direction would operate to alternately lower the anvil and to raise the same again to its normal position, while the highest point of the cam would serve to lock the anvil in such position and to afford it a rigid support uponthe base A during the welding operation.

In Fig. 9 the anvil is shown of d itferent const ruction,- but. similarly sustain ed during the welding operation by a rigid support upon the base A, the anvilO" being formed atone end of a horizontal lever, C which is pivoted by a pin, 0, to a suitable standard upon the base. and the cam-shaft c and cam c are sustained in bearings c, supported upon. the bed or base beneath the anvil C In Figs. 8, 9, and 10 the former is shown. affixed rigidly to the pipe-mold, and such construction may be used in certain cases, i the lowering of the anvil after each forming operation releases the sheet metal so that it may be fed forward. The line of the spiral seam upon the pipe is shown in l ig. 5 by the dotted lines a a and the full line a shows the edge of the newly-applied and bent skelp as it moves downward beneath the anvil from the former D, to pass between the lip t and the concave front of the furnace, and it is obvious that the nearest support which can be applied to the anvil to sustain it rigidly upon the base must avoid interference with the edge of the skelp. (Indicated by the line 11.) In constructing the anvil upon a vertical slide, as in Figs. 3 and 6, the slide is therefore attached to the anvil-bar in the rear of the line 11, while in the case of the lever-anvil (shown in Fig. 9) the cam is applied to its under side, as closely as possible to the line a, to furnish the rigid support belt-wlnwl shaft; I, would be readily driven; from such shaft by belting or cog-wheel connections therefrom. 'lhe ehiet' object of moving either the anvil or former from contact with the pipe is to prevent chilling the sheet metal unduly prior to the blow of the hammer, and to prevent: the fouling of the surfaces by scale or slag from the furmlco.

It is, however, essential to the formation of a smooth seam upon the exact periphery of the pipe to have the surface which supports the blow within the pipe constituted as a solid anvil or support rigidly in contact with the interior of the pipe, and any means which furnishes such support will effect the object. of my invention. It is, however, innnaterial how tho rigid support be applied to the a11- vil, or how the same be moved to and from the inner surface of the pipe, provided it be sustained during the welding operation by a rigid support tixed upon the base. It has been common heretofore to use hammers aetingin opposition to one another upon the seam, one of such hammers operating within and the other without the pipe. Such prior constructions have commonly boon formed as jointed lovers of the first? order, having a fulcrum intermediate to their ends and actuated by pivoted connections, which were liable to become loose and cause lost motion or play in the action of the lever. The part inside tho pipe, which in my construction is a rigid anvil, was therefore in such jointed mmstructions merely a sort; of hammer. In such a construction the hammer within the pipe operated largely by its momentum, the same as the hammer upon the outside of the pipe, and the precise point of contact botwcen two such moving hammers was not a fixed point, as it should be to close the. weld exactly upon the periphery of the pipe. The momentmn of the hammer within the pipe and of the hammer outside the pipe was therefore liable to be affected (owing to variations in their weights) by any variations in the speed of the machine, and an excess of momentum in either one has in practice operated either to indent the pipe at the seam by excessive pressure upon the outside, or to bulge the pipe by excessive pressure upon the inside of the seam. The diameter of thepipe at the seam would tlnu-et'ore be irregular and the uniformity of its size and appearance materially marred. To give the hammer within the pipe a degree of: inertia, the lower hammer has somet imos been weighted to compensate for the shorter swing of such hammer within the pipe; but it is obvious that an increase in speed must tend to give such weightied hammer a greater momentum than the one outside the pipe, and to thus press'the scam outward, as just stated.

My anvil is adjusted in the construction of the machine to such point within the pipe that the seam, when welded, may be, as nearly as possible, even with the surface of the pipe, and its rigid support upon the base during the welding operation sustains it tirmly at such point within the pipe, independent of all such variations in the speed of the machine orofthe force of the hannner-blow delivered upon it.

The means shown herein for moving the hammer (by the two elastic rubber collars f and the adj usting-n utsj' may be. adjusted to deliver a harder or lighter blow upon the seam, and, the anvil being sustained with entire rigidity beneath the hammer, such variation in the force of the blows produces no distortion of the pipe in the manner effected by previous constructions under different conditions of operation.

A movable former for bending or curving the blank is not essential to the working of the anvil in the manner described, as it is obvious that the former exerts its function chiefly when pressed upon the metal at; the limit of its stroke, and that at such time it operates the same as a stationarv former, against; which the metal would be pressed by the moving anvil.

The face of the anvil is made wide enough transversely to sustain the pipe beneath the hannner, and to press the blank or skelp against the former, and is adapted as well to co-operate with a stationary as with a movable former to perform such functions.

llaving thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is it. In a spiral-seam tube-welding machine, the combination, with suitable means for forming, heating, and welding the sheet metal, of a movable anvil projected within the newly-applied skelp, a base supporting the pipeinaking fixtures, and means, substantially as described, for sustaining the anvil during the welding operation by a rigid support. upon the said base, as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a spiral-seam tube-welding machine, the combination, with suitable means for forming, heating, and welding the sheet metal, of a movableanvil projoctet'l within the newlyapplied skelp, a base supporting the pipemaking fixtures, and a moving cam supported upon a bearing on the base and operated to raise the anvil within the skelp and to sustain it rigidly during the welding operation, as and for the purpose set. forth.

3. In a spiral-seam tube-welding machine, the combination, with suitable means for heating and welding the sheet metal, of a movable anvil projected within. the newlya-pplied skelp, a base supporting the pipemaking fixtures, means, substantially as doseribed, for sustaining the anvil during the welding operation by a rigid support upon the said base, and a former moved to and from the sheet metal and operated to press the same upon the said anvil, as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a spiral-seam tubewelding machine, the combination, with suitable means for heating and welding the sheet metal, of a movable anvil projected within the newlyapplied skelp, a base supporting the pipemaking fixtures, means, substantially as described, for sustaining the anvil during the welding operation by a rigid support upon the said base, a former moved to and from the sheet metal to press the same upon the said anvil, and a toggle operated, substantially as described, for locking the former in its operative position, as and for the purpose set lorth.

5. In a spiral-seam tube-welding machine, the combination, with suitable means for heating and welding the sheet metal, of a movable anvil projected'within the newlyapplied skelp, a base supporting the pipemaking fixtures, means, substantially as described, for sustaining the anvil. during the welding operation by a rigid support upon the said base, a former moved to and from the sheet metal to press the same upon the said anvil, and means for adjusting the former to and from the anvil, to graduate the said pressure, as and for the purpose set forth.

(3. In a spiral-seam tube-welding machine, the combination, with suitable means for heating and welding the sheet metal, of a movable anvil projected within the newlyapplied skelp, a base supporting the pipemaking fixtures, means, substantially described, for sustaining the anfil during the I welding operation by a rigid support upon the said base, and a former hinged or pivoted parallel with the surface of the pipe and operated transverse thereto to press the sheet metal upon the said anvil, as and for the pur- '5 pose set forth.

7. In a spiral-scam tube-welding machine, the combination,with suitable means for heating and welding the sheet metal, of a movable anvil projected within the newly-applied i skelp, a base supporting the pipe-makin g [ix- 1 tures, means, substantially as described, for sustaining the anvil during the welding operation by a rigid support upon the said base, i and a former and lever mounted upon a pivot parallel with the axis of the pipe and moved 5 to and from the sheet metal to press the same upon the said anvil, as and for the purpose set forth.

8. In a spiral-seam tube-welding machine, l the c0mbination,with suitable means for heating and welding the sheet metal, of a movai ble anvil projected within the newly-applied;

skelp, a base supporting the pipe-making fixtures, means, substantially as described, for sustaining the anvil during the welding operation by a rigid support upon the said base, a movable former arranged to press the sheet metal upon the said anvil, and a rock-shaft connected to the former and the anvil and operated to move the former to and from the pipe and to raise and sustain the anvil rigidly upon the bed during the welding operation, as and for the purpose set forth.

9. In a spial-seam tube-welding machine, the combination,with suit-able means for heating and welding the sheet metal, of a movable anvil projected within the newly-applied skelp, a base supporting the pipe-making fixtnres, means, substantially as described, for sustaining the anvil during the welding operation by a rigid support upon the said base, a movable former arranged to press the sheet metal upon the said anvil, feeding-rollers applied to the skelp, and a rock-shaft connected to the former, the anvil, and the feeding-rollers, and operated to move the former, the anvil, and the teet'ling-rollcrs simultaneously, inthc desired manner, prior to the welding operation, as and for the purpose set forth.

10. In a spiral-seam tube-welding machine in which a straight skelp is fed obliquely to a cylindrical pipe and welded thereto at the tangential point, the combination,with suitable means for bending the skelp, means for heating the skelp at the tangential point, and an anvil and former, operating substantially as described, to weld the skelp at such heated spot, of feeding-rollers applied to the cold. skelp at right angles thereto in advance of the weld and operating upon the skelp before the same is bent to rotate the pipe within the pipe-mold, substantially as herein set forth.

ll. In a spiral-seam tube-weldin g machine, the combination, with blank-forming, blank heating, and blank-welding mechanism, of feeding-rollers applied to the skelp adjacent to the weld, a driving-shat t for actuating by suitable connections the blanlcforming and blank-welding mechanism, and means connected with the said driving-shaft for rotating the rollers intermittci'itlybetween the successive forming or welding operations, substantially as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

'IHOMAS S. CRANE.

'Witnesses: L. LEE, HENRY J. MILLER. 

